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By Rose Hooper
Meeting at the same time Tuesday (Aug. 19), two separate Jackson
County boards took action with regard to future development opportunities
in Cashiers.
While the board of commissioners approved a commercial zoning
district for Cashiers (see story page 1A), the Tuckaseigee Water
and Sewer Authority gave its director, Hugh Montgomery, the go-ahead
to proceed with engineering and permitting for an additional 100,000
gallons of wastewater treatment capacity at the Cashiers sewer
plant.
Montgomery said he and Stan Bryson, TWSA's wastewater treatment
plant superintendent, and Ben Henson, the plant's operator, have
been working on a 90-day plan for increasing capacity at the Cashiers
facility.
"Regardless of whether you approve our final plan or of what
we do, we need a clarifier at that plant today," Montgomery
told his board Tuesday.
Former TWSA Chairman Jerry King, who recently retired, estimated
that cost to be around $200,000.
Although the state granted a permit in May 2002 for the Cashiers
sewer plant to treat an additional 100,000 gallons of wastewater
a day, the board chose to delay action until after the Cashiers
incorporation vote, which failed Aug. 12.
Paige Bernstein, a supporter of incorporation, told the TWSA board
that one reason he felt the effort didn't pass was "misinformation
spread by those opposing incorporation." He then played a
tape, recorded on his answering machine, alleging that if incorporation
passed, the town would have to take over the costly operation
of the treatment plant.
"We didn't have anything in the budget about taking over
the plant," Bernstein said about what he termed a "scare
tactic."
Lack of funds has also been a factor for TWSA, which placed a
moratorium on the plant's expansion two years ago. Expansion was
stalled initially when the $1,024,000 low bid for construction
from RPB Systems Inc. of Asheville came in $224,000 higher than
had been anticipated. In addition to the $1 million price tag
for construction, Montgomery estimated another $300,000 would
be needed for pump station upgrades, including auxiliary generators.
Collection system improvements have not been studied to include
elimination of pump stations in exchange for installation of gravity
lines, Montgomery said, estimating the cost of the analysis between
$7,000 to $10,000.
Last year, several major developers, eager to access a portion
of the additional 100,000 gallons, agreed to pay sewer impact
fees totaling $950,000.
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